Cam Cole: Canucks kids kept on a leash, but they're showing some bite

Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun columnist10.28.2015

Vancouver Canucks’ Jared McCann, centre, celebrates his goal against Montreal Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price, left, in front of Alex Galchenyuk during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015.DARRYL DYCK
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Vancouver Canucks Jared McCann celebrates his 2nd goal of the 1st period as the Canucks battle the Montreal Canadiens in Rogers Arena in Vancouver on October 27 2015.Mark van Manen
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Vancouver Canucks celebrate their 1st goal of the game by Jared McCann 91, battle the Montreal Canadiens in Rogers Arena in Vancouver on October 27 2015.Mark van Manen
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Vancouver Canucks celebrate their early 1st period goa by 91 Jared McCann as they battle the Montreal Canadiens in Rogers Arena in Vancouver on October 27 2015.Mark van Manen
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Vancouver Canucks Bo Horvat celebrates his 1st period goal against the Montreal Canadiens in Rogers Arena in Vancouver on October 27 2015.Mark van Manen
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Just because you scored two first-period goals to bring about a quick reversal of fortunes for two teams — the high-flying Montreal Canadiens, suddenly confronted by the first real adversity they have faced all season, and the low-flying Vancouver Canucks, who had been unable to crack the code on home ice — doesn’t mean it will cut much ice with the guy doling out the minutes.

Those goals would set the Canucks on the path to a resounding 5-1 victory over the previously unbeaten and untied Habs, ending their bid for the National Hockey League start-of-season win streak, and shooting the first holes anyone has seen yet in the armour of goalie Carey Price.

McCann’s reward? By the end of the second period, the 19-year-old had played less than any other Canuck.

For the record, McCann understands.

“That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to earn his (coach Willie Desjardins’) respect, and I know it’s not going to be an easy thing, but I’m just trying to work on it,” he said.

There is plenty of precedent, mind you — Edmonton is only a province away, after all — to frighten the Canucks’ brain trust away from rushing teenagers into the lineup before they’re physically or mentally ready to be NHLers.

But this Vancouver club has been caught between two contradictory priorities: the desire to emulate the Detroit model of letting draft picks percolate at length in the minors before dropping them into the NHL frying pan, and the desire to get younger and faster.

Walking that line has quite plainly given Desjardins a case of the vapours.

Like any grown-up, he has been reluctant to give the kids the keys to the car and tell them not to worry about getting home early.

So he’s kept them on a tight leash — tighter than many of the fans and media think necessary — and been damned careful about when and under what circumstances he would trust them.

And sometimes you can see his point.

Jake Virtanen, for instance, threw his body around a bit Tuesday, had an assist on Derek Dorsett’s goal, made some nice plays, but early in the third period, just after the Canadiens had scored to cut into the Canucks’ 3-0 lead, he took a hooking penalty on P.K. Subban, 200 feet from his own net.

A veteran could easily have done the same thing, but this wasn’t a veteran. So for a coach inclined to look askance at a rookie mistake, this was a teachable moment, most often taught by sitting.

But there’s another theory, the old “you can’t accumulate if you don’t speculate” principle, in which you’re never going to know if the kids are ready if you don’t take the odd risk, and not leave them stapled to the bench for 50-some minutes a night.

And McCann, with four goals in seven games, is making his case for staying beyond the nine-game threshold — after 10 the first year of his contract would be burned — in a way that’s going to be difficult for even a hard-to-convince coach to ignore.

“I’m not really focused on that right now. I’m trying to focus on what I can control, and the rest is up to them,” McCann said.

He knows this was Game 7, but says he doesn’t know when Game 9 will be.

“No. I don’t want to know,” he said.

If he stays in the lineup, it will be Friday at Arizona. Game 10 would be Monday, at home to Philly.

Tuesday night, he may have sealed the deal. May have.

Aided and abetted by an inspired night from winger Brandon Prust, who rubbed his old team’s nose in the folly of the Zack Kassian trade (as if the Canadiens needed to be reminded), McCann did nothing more than bury the two chances he had: the first, after Prust’s shot went in and out of Price’s glove, rolled down his back and lay available to be swept into the net; the second a nice, quick release of a Prust pass directly in the slot, catching Price before he was ready.

It was a persuasive effort by McCann, but no more than that. The only reason he didn’t end the night with less ice time than any other Canuck was that Prust was injured late in the second period. But Virtanen played 15:10, nearly double his previous average. McCann, 12:13. Sven Baertschi 14:10. Bo Horvat 15:30. Hutton 17:01.

Sure it was a blowout, and those numbers might be a lot different in a closer game. But … baby steps.

“It’s nice. It’s a stepping stone,” said Virtanen. “It’s going to be a process. You can’t just jump in and start playing 20 right away, you’ve gotta earn it.”

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